Tower Hamlets had 3,000 fewer people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) in the last year – a fall of nearly a third.

The figures for the period from July 2013 to last month, released yesterday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), show the total number claiming JSA in Tower Hamlets was 6,570.

They came ahead of news from the ONS of a dramatic fall in unemployment across the country.

The government this week hailed a 6.4 per cent fall in nationwide youth unemployment from last year, a drop of 206,000 – the biggest decrease since records began 30 years ago.

Unemployment in London came down by 59,000 in the period from April to June this year – equivalent to 1.6pc of the economically active population.

This brings the total number of people unemployed in London down to 370,000.

Tower Hamlets also saw a drop in unemployment in the borough’s latest figures, covering the year from April 2013 to March 2014.

There were 15,700 people, or 11.6 per cent of the economically active population, unemployed, a drop of 2,200 against the year before.

Employment rose in Tower Hamlets in that period from 63.4pc of adults to 64.6pc, with 119,600 people in work as of March 2014.

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